Me. And the things I do.

Tag Archives: Dim sum

I am nostalgic for dim sum. It reminds me of being young and taking the train into San Francisco’s China Town for sticky rice and dozens of strange looking dumplings filled with delectable treasure. The smell brings back memories of large lazy susan’s, matriarchs flagging down carts filled with pretty little stacked bamboo steam boxes and rolling myself out of the restaurant at the end, stuffed so full and wishing I could have stayed longer.

Unfortunately, where I live now, I have to drive at least a half an hour for good dim sum and finding a good dim sum brunch partner has been near impossible. While I found some great recipes online, not many had good photos, advice for freezing, folding or wraper use. So here, in one place, are a bunch of pictures with two intro recipes for Siu Mai and Pork Wontons as well as the perfect dipping sauce, folding options and freezing instructions.

Siu Mai

Ingredients:

3 dried Chinese black or Shiitake mushrooms

6 oz peeled deveined shrimp (I used medium, feel free to use large)

1 green onion

1 tsp minced ginger

¾ cup ground pork

1 TB oyster or fish sauce

1 tsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry if you must)

1 tsp sesame oil

½ tsp granulated sugar

about 20 wonton wrappers (you are supposed to use round gyoza wrappers, but I liked the flared look of the squares) You can find these in the frozen section of most grocery stores or your local Asian market.

Directions:

If you are using frozen wrappers, move them from the freezer to the refrigerator. If you forget this step and need them to thaw more quickly, go ahead and thaw on the counter, just make sure to leave them sealed so they don’t dry out.

Soften the mushrooms by soaking in hot water for approximately 15 minutes. Squeeze out excess water.

Soak the shrimp in lightly salted, warm water for 5 minutes and pat dry.

Mince mushrooms, shrimp and green onions.

Add minced ingredients to the ginger and pork and mix thoroughly.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to let flavors blend. I like to even leave over night.

Place unused wonton wrappers under a damp cloth to keep them moist. (I don’t have a photo of this, but I just wet a paper towel and drape over the top, just make sure you squeeze out any excess water so it doesn’t make them soggy).

Wet edges of wrapper and place 3 tsp of filling in the center.

Gather up the edges and gently fold so that the wrapper forms a basket around the filling with the top part of the filling exposed.

I start by folding in the sides and the pleating the corners around

Steam for 5-10 minutes until filling is cooked, or place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to freeze (more on freezing below).

Makes about 20-25 dumplings.

Wontons with Pork and Shrimp

Ingredients:

½ lb ground or chopped pork (the big difference is texture)

½ lb shelled and deveined medium shrimp

3-5 water chestnuts (I used the canned variety from the regular grocery store and they are small so I use more)

1tsp grated ginger, I use a micro plane (if you like ginger you should consider adding a bit more)

1 TB oyster or fish sauce

2 tsp soy sauce

1 TB Chinese rice wine or rice vinegar

1 tsp granulated sugar

a few drops sesame oil

Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

Wonton wrappers (30-40 ish)

Directions:

Like I said in the Siu Mai recipe, If you are using frozen wrappers, move them from the freezer to the refrigerator. If you forget this step and need them to thaw more quickly, go ahead and thaw on the counter, just make sure to leave them sealed so they don’t dry out.

As with the Siu Mai recipe, refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

Place unused wonton wrappers under a damp cloth to keep them moist. (I don’t have a photo of this, but I just wet a paper towel and drape over the top, just make sure you squeeze out any excess water so it doesn’t make them soggy).

Wet the edges of the wrapper in use and then place a heaping tsp of filling in the center of the wrapper. (this one was a bit exaggerated so you could see how I wet them).

There are several folding options I tried (and plenty more if you feel like spending some time on the web):

Bring edges together and twist to seal.
pleat one side 3 times from the left and three from the right and press into flat side to create a curved look (pictured ish, it takes practice, I’m not perfect!)

8. Cook right away or freeze (directions below).

You can boil wontons (5 – 8 minutes) or fry them in a pan with a little oil (about 2 minutes) or steam them (5-8 minutes).

I suggest frying and then adding a little steam at the end for a mix. I am not the best at wrapping them and sometimes they tear which makes boiling my least favorite option, however they do taste wonderful boiled.

Freezing for Later

This step is important to me because I like to make a ton and eat them for breakfast, snack, lunch, whatever for days and days after and if you do it right they can hang out in the freezer for a month or so. This also makes all the work of folding those little buggers worth it.

The most important thing to remember is DO NOT COOK BEFORE FREEZING.
Did you read that? FREEZE RAW.
It is best to lay them all out on a lined cooking sheet uncovered first and place in the freezer for 30min to an hour. This gets them set enough for a zip lock bag.
Then, place as many as you like into FREEZER Zip Lock bags (the non-freezer kind don’t protect them from burn very well so if you use those they will not last nearly as long in the freezer).
When you take them out, don’t thaw, just put right in the steamer or boiling water. YUM!

Dipping Sauce

We can’t get this far without something to dip our dim sum in!

You could go with just soy, or something simple, but this little recipe is real perfection.

Ingredients:

Juice of 1/4 to 1/2 of a lemon (this is really to taste, I like to use less but my husband loves more so what can I say?)

ground white or black pepper to taste

Directions:

Whisk together and serve!

The big deal about this recipe is to play with the amounts. I rarely measure but rather start small and taste with my fingers until it gets to my liking. You may like it heavier on the vinegar like I do, heavier on the citrus like my husband or light on the heat (more group friendly for parties) it is totally up to you!

I hope that these beginner recipes have give you the confidence to enjoy dim sum at home. I welcome any additional questions and hope to bring you some more advanced recipes in the near future!